September 2013

It's Friday afternoon, and all over the country, people are turning off their computers for the weekend, heading home early, enjoying beautiful fall weather, planning football tailgating parties, cookouts, leaf-changing trips, and other ways to celebrate.

Me? I'm at a writers' conference--This is a good experience, too, I have to admit, with great people, lots of ideas being exchanged, new software to learn, comfortable surroundings, and yummy food. Tonight after an Italian dinner, we're scheduled for a cash bar, open mic night, and a fund-raising auction. Tomorrow sessions start at 8:00 AM and run almost non-stop until we finish the Awards Banquet around 9:00 PM. Then we have a nine-hour drive home.

So what else do I have to do besides just enjoying myself? Well, the second go-around of page proofs just arrived in my mailbox. I have the computer with me, so I can start plowing through the digital files. But when? Who needs sleep anyhow?

UPDATE: SHE'S NEVER SATISFIED DEPARTMENT: I just started to check the proofs and discovered that none of the last set of changes I sent in have been made. They charged me for them, mind you, but then redated the old version and sent it back to me unaltered. And of course it did not arrive until they closed for the weekend -- see first paragraph, above. So I'm off the hook, I guess, but I'm not happy, either.

Most of you know that many, if not all, of my books have a beginning with the Roundhead Regiment (100th Penna.), and the experiences of my great Uncle James and his comrades. I'm traveling this morning, but I found this description on Facebook and decided to pass it on. I had forgotten that the Roundheads spent some time in Tennessee and Kentucky -- just where I am. So here, thanks to David Welsh, the regimental webmaster, is a seasonally appropriate account:

150 years ago the Roundheads are spending much of their time marching and camping throughout the lush late summer/early fall landscape of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, including Cumberland Gap, where the junction of three states (KY, TN and VA) come together. The are doing so much marching and travelling by train during this time that William Taylor of Co. G. mentions that one of the days THEY ONLY MARCHED 10 MILES. In a letter dated September 27th, 1863 he writes:

"The next day "Sunday the 20th." (one week from today) we started again and passed the Gap, encamping one mile beyond it in Tennessee. I cannot describethe wildness or grandeur of the scenery on these mountains or the strength of the fortifications at the pass. How the rebels came to give it up, I cannot imagine, unless they wanted to. A thousand good soldiers should be able to hold it against fiftythousand. On the top of the mountain the three states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee meet, and a store marks the point at which their boundary line joins. By walking around it you can be in the three states in half a minute".

In late September when they were supposed to be travelling to Knoxville by train, the regiment boarded and ended up heading the opposite direction toward Greenville because of a dispatching error--the error was corrected and the regiment arrived in Knoxville at 4am on September 24th. The rest of September is spent marching and maneuvers leading up to the next major action at the Battle of Blue Springs, Oct. 10, 1863.

I'm not sure what Dorothy would have to say about this, but it appears that the Yellow Brick Road has dumped us in Kansas after all, Toto. As Lions from all over the USA and Canada descend on Overland Park, I'm still trying to catch up on the news from home. So here's today's flash:

Be the first to get your copy of Left by the Side of the Road, 2nd edition. The official release date is October 15th, but pre-orders are now available from Barnes and Noble Nookbooks and from Kobo.

A special pre-order price is also in effect. If you order your electronic copy before the release date, the price is only $1.99. On October 15, it goes up to $2.99.

All pre-orders will be available for download to your electronic device shortly after midnight on October 15. So order your copy now and be among the first to read the 13 new short stories that appear for the first time in this collection.

Does it matter to me if you pre-order? You bet it does. Each electronic book-seller does its own promotion, based on which books are getting the most pre-order attention. So if twenty people order the book today, B&N will be more likely to feature the book on its promotions page. That, in turn, will cause more people to pre-order.

Then -- and this is even more important -- on launch day, those twenty or more pre-orders ship out at the same time, causing the sales figures for the book to spike, which in turn spurs further promotions, based on sales figures. (If those same twenty people wait until after October 15th to place their order, the sales will spread out over a longer period of time and will not cause the same high rankings.)

For Apple iBook readers, I hope to be able to make this same offer to you in a day or so. Apple has accepted the book, but it is not yet listed in their online catalog. Stay tuned!

And what about Kindle? Well, that's another story. Without starting a rant here, I'll just tell you that Kindle only allows pre-orders from established traditional publishers with whom they have special agreements. Katzenhaus Books is a publisher, but we're small and independent, and we have no agreements with anyone. So Kindle readers will just have to wait until October 15th. Sorry!

And finally, those of you who prefer paper to pixels will also have access to the trade paper edition starting in mid-October.

In recognition of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, “Civil War-Era Memories” features excerpts from The Memphis Daily Appeal of 150 years ago. The Appeal is publishing from Atlanta. Perspective from our staff is in italics

Sept. 9, 1863

The Armies of Tennessee — The Confederate troops have all been withdrawn from the line of the Tennessee River, and we have pretty well authenticated accounts that Chattanooga was occupied by a Yankee force of two or three regiments.

Sept. 11, 1863

It has been disputed whether this war should be called a revolution or not. The following members of the press would be likely, from their own experience, to take the affirmative of the question: The Memphis APPEAL, now published at Atlanta, the Mississippian, at Selma; the Huntsville Confederacy, at Marietta; the Knoxville Register, at Atlanta; the Winchester Bulletin, at Newnan (Ga).

Sept. 14, 1863

The following is a letter from Old Abe to General Grant: My Dear General: I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. (The President then refers to Grant’s capture of Vicksburg) When you got below and took Port Gibson ... and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. Yours very truly, A. Lincoln

From the Front — The result of Gen. Forrest’s movements has been not only to check the enemy’s advance, but to drive him back to the vicinity of his main force, on the river. The Federal column succeeded in coming within five miles of Dalton, and thirty-three miles south of Chattanooga, but it has been driven back, and on Sunday Gen. Forrest’s headquarters were at Ringgold, twenty-three miles below Chattanooga. Military operations are on foot in the vicinity. Let us all be patient.

Sept. 15, 1863

Classified Ad — The Memphis Dixie Works are now being removed from Canton, Mississippi to Macon, Georgia. (This manufacturer of wagons, carriages and military supplies, like the APPEAL, moved from Memphis to more hospitable locations during the war).

We have a couple of crazy weeks coming up -- no, make that three weeks of crazy. Among our scheduled activities are a meet-up with an internet friend, a learning forum with Lions from all over North America, a convention of writers who also have connections to the military, and a reunion of Tennessee Lions who have held high offices in the state. Oh, and I must not forget visiting local markets along the way to pick up early Ohio apples, the new crop of southern sweet potatoes, and the last of the Ripley tomatoes.

It's times like these that make me very grateful for our cat-sitter. Without her, we would be facing one of two scenarios. (1) We could leave the five cats alone with self-feeders and come home to absolute destruction. (I tried that exactly once, with just two cats, and came home to discover they had taken down all of the curtains and piled them in the middle of the floor.) (2) We could take all five to the nearest boarding facility and then take out a second mortgage to pay their bill. (It would be cheaper to get them a couple of hotel rooms!) I suppose some would say we should just put them outside and let them catch mice, but I wouldn't relish coming home to scrape cat carcasses off the street.

So a cat-sitter, it is. The cats are happier, and so am I. Our sitter is infinitely patient with our schedules, even when I tell her things like "We don't need you Monday night but we'll be leaving again on Wednesday" or "We'll leave the full garbage can at the curb on Tuesday, but you'll have to bring it in by Wednesday morning."

I'll try to post once in a while, whenever we're home for a day or two, or whenever I can get a reliable internet connection and enough time to pound out a blog. The bad news is that you should not count on anything like a regular blog schedule until sometime in October. The good news is that when we're back for good (and "good" is a relative term, since I also have a book tour scheduled for November), I should be ready with an announcement of the official releases of the second edition of "Left by the Side of the Road."